Theos-Talk Archives (June 2005 Message tt00174)

 Gregory, Morten and All,
This mail, which gives all the details, conclusively proves that all 
evidences were examined and verdict was Leadbeater was innocent. So I 
don't see any point in further discussion on this topic. If Morten is 
interested, instead of studying rumours he should study actual result 
of enquiry done that time. Result was there was no evidence against 
Leadbeater. Further discussion on this topic is waste of my time.
Anand Gholap

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "prmoliveira" <prmoliveira@y...> 
wrote:
> It is said that life has its ironies. One of them may have been the 
> known name of the property which was eventually acquired by a group 
> of theosophists in the 1920s, where Leadbeater took up residence 
and 
> which is now known as The Manor. At that time it was known 
> as "Bakewell's Folly", named after Mr Bakewell, who built a large 
> mansion with the idea that his entire family would live in it. It 
> didn't work and the property was put up for sale.
> 
> The judge who presided over the custody case of Narianah, 
> Krishnamurti's father, against Annie Besant, was also called 
> Bakewell. One of the central arguments in the case was the charge, 
> brought up by Naraniah, that Leadbeater had sexually molested his 
> elder son. After examining all the evidence available, which 
> included the accusations and allegations against Leadbeater from 
> 1906, the judge concluded that the charge against him had no 
> grounds, although he declared that Leadbeater held "immoral views" 
> regarding his advice on sexual matters to boys.
> 
> This is what Jean Overton Fuller wrote in her book "Krishnamurti & 
> The Wind - A Biography" (Theosophical Publishing House, London, 
> 2003, p. 45) about one of the decisive moments in the court case, 
> with Annie Besant representing herself and questioning 
> Krishnamurti's father:
> 
> "Naraniah had stated in evidence that he had witnessed an obscene 
> act between the elder boy and Leadbeater, at Adyar, in 1910. How 
was 
> it that he had not rushed forward immediately, to stop it? Why had 
> he never mentioned it before, in the conversation he had with her 
in 
> which he did express some doubts about Leadbeater? Why had he only 
> introduced this story when the suit was filed? She [Annie Besant] 
> called Dr. Mary Rock and Mrs. van Hook, who stated that during the 
> hours between which the incident was alleged to have occurred, 5.30 
> in the morning until breakfast time, they had always worked 
together 
> with Leadbeater in that room; the boys came in for their glasses of 
> milk but nothing improper occurred.
> 
> Then she had to cross-examine Lakshman. He was her personal 
servant, 
> and though he had been called by the other side she did not wish to 
> hurt him, but under her careful probing, the nature of 
> the "indecency" he had witnessed was this: he had seen them in the 
> bathroom together, Krishna had nothing on and was standing by the 
> wash basin; Leadbeater, wearing a shirt which descended only to the 
> knees, was washing Krishna's hair and putting it in order. In 
India, 
> nudity constituted indecency; even if no one else was present, one 
> should retain one's loin-cloth whilst washing. That was why he was 
> shocked. When he grasped that in English law, something of a sexual 
> nature was required in order to justify the accusation of 
indecency, 
> he had nothing more to say."
> 
> Later on, Fuller adds:
> 
> "Mr. Justice Bakewell, summing up, said the father had obviously 
> lied, in his evidence, and it was open to Mrs. Besant to have him 
> prosecuted for perjury; yet his having lied did not unfit him to 
> look after his sons, whereas Mr. Leadbeater held "immoral views" 
> which did make him unsuitable to be with them. The father, when he 
> assigned guardianship to Mrs. Besant, had not understood that the 
> elder boy was to be brought up as the agent of "supernatural 
powers" 
> and had a right to object. He awarded custody to the father but 
> costs against him." The date was 15 April 1913.
> 
> Earlier this year, a Sydney newspaper carried a full page piece 
> about cults and sects, with focus on the TS in the 1920s, in which 
> it repeated the allegations of Leadbeater's homosexual acts with 
> Krishnamurti when he was a boy in Madras. The journalist 
responsible 
> for the piece obviously did not check available information that 
> shows that Leadbeater was cleared of that charge 92 years ago. It 
is 
> another case of oracular validity shown as fact.
> 
> If Justice Bakewell had condemned him, Leadbeater would have been 
> sent to prison, Annie Besant would certainly have resigned as 
> President of the TS, the World Teacher circus would have come to an 
> end, Bertram Keightley would have been elected President of the 
> Adyar TS and would have steered it into pro-Blavatsky lines and 
> Anand would probably be a happy member of ULT in Mumbai!
> 
> "Bakewell's Folly" indeed.
> 
> 
> pedro